Changes in Speed Post Services and Tariff!

The Department of Posts has recently announced changes in its Inland Speed Post services and tariff, adding new features to move ahead with the changing times. The revised tariff will be effective from 1st October 2025. The tariff of Inland Speed Post was last revised in October 2012. Under the rationally revised tariff structure the new rates are not substantially but only marginally higher, taking into account the host of safe, fast and smarter new features added. Additionally, to enhance accessibility of Speed Post services for students, a 10% discount on Speed Post tariff has been introduced.  Besides, a special discount of 5% discount has been introduced for new bulk customers. 

In order to further strengthen its position as the preferred delivery service in the country, it has now been upgraded with the following new features aimed at enhancing reliability, security, and customer convenience:

● OTP-based secure delivery

● Online payment facility

● SMS-based delivery notifications

● Convenient online booking services

● Real-time delivery updates

● Registration facility for users

Registration is available as a value-added service under speed post for both documents and parcels; customers can have addressee-specific secured delivery specifically designed to bring trust and speed together.

The Department of Posts introduced Speed Post on 1st August 1986 to provide fast and reliable delivery of letters and parcels across the country. Launched as part of India Post’s modernization efforts, the service was designed to ensure time-bound, efficient, and secure mail delivery. Over the years, Speed Post has emerged as one of the most popular and trusted mail services in India, standing strong against private courier companies.

Since its inception, Speed Post has continued to evolve to meet changing customer needs.

The initiatives are part of India Post’s ongoing journey of evolving into a more secure, transparent, and technology-enabled service provider. By introducing sustainable innovations and trust-enhancing features, Speed Post continues to adapt to the changing needs of customers while reaffirming its position as the nation’s most reliable and affordable delivery partner.    

Courtesy: ADPSR, Maharashtra Postal Circle, Mumbai.        

Kolkata: The Deadly Tentacles of Global Warming!

It’d be wrong if I say I’ll never be able to forget about that particular near-dawn while nestled inside a crammed flat in a congested locality of Kolkata, which was once, in my opinion, given the euphoric title of ‘City of Joy’. Instead, I should say I’ll always remember that particular near-dawn which is essentially to keep myself somewhat prepared for more similar or worse experiences in the near future. Yes, it’s about the IMD-described ‘one of the longest and deadliest summers in India’ of which Kolkata is a very significant part. Now to what happened in that near-dawn which is, in fact, is only a day before. 

I woke up suddenly in the dead of the night and immediately felt the oppressiveness which was apparently the cause of waking up. The ceiling fan was whirring above us, my wife and I; but its gusts of air were no longer airy—it only seemed to have lost itself into the relentless clutch of that oppressiveness. I was sweating profusely and the heat rashes all over my body were pinching me like long needles, rather letting me only have the usual itching. The night was calm, still and thick. As if the tentacles of that oppressive heat that was raging outside barged in through the concrete walls and the closed doors and windows and launched themselves into our hapless bodies mercilessly. I checked my mobile: it was just past three in the morning, a near dawn. I couldn’t believe my eyes. How is it possible? This time the surroundings always cool off leading all of us humanity to a welcoming relieving beautiful morning.

 

I tossed around on the bed for some time, thinking the air was going to cool off soon and the hands of the ceiling fan would restore themselves to their normal business. But nothing of the sort happened even as my wife stirred, sat up on bed and shared the oppressiveness with me. It seemed like an attack from the aliens: perhaps they are launching the final assault after all those preliminary warnings.

 

I had before me only the last resort to fall upon. We have an ageing window air-conditioning machine that befits the old rented flat and which we normally run in the evenings for a few hours to cool the house, and at bedtime we switch it off. That night too we switched it off around one in the night. Scared by my writhing body my wife asked me if she should switch it on. I nodded at her with a guilty feeing—guilty because I was thinking about the huge majority of our country’s population that still cannot afford an AC machine. I do always think about those daily labourers, the cleaners & rag-pickers, the rickshaw pullers and all others caught in that cruel cycle at no point of which could they afford a day lost without work. And for that matter, the ACs are not the solution at all—they only give temporary comfort like painkillers to the ‘lucky’ users and make the world a far worse place to live in.

 

It was not important that we managed to fall asleep within the next two hours and could also afford the luxury of waking up late in the morning; what is of utmost importance is the question as to what future we’re running toward! Kolkata is just a case study for us even as the summers in India and in many other countries around are becoming warmer by 2-3 degrees more every year, and in this particular summer the ‘landmark’ 50-degree Centigrade has been reached in many parts of India including capital Delhi. Like last year, the heat waves started in Kolkata in the month of April too this year, and as a departure from the previous year the 40+ temperatures this year raged on for several weeks on the trot, not allowing even the seasonal thunderstorms locally known as ‘Kal Baisakhi’ for mid-term relief, even once. And to add more, the nights everywhere in the country are no longer cooling off with temperatures refusing to come below 30-32 Centigrade; occasional rains too are failing miserably to bring the temperatures down.

 

Cyclone Remal brought some relief to Kolkata in terms of a user-friendly weather, apart from the damage it had caused in its trail in the eastern and the north-eastern regions. However, the cyclone probably left a veil of moisture hangover, and therefore, as the temperatures started to rise again the humidity became a deadly factor, not to speak of the immeasurable damage caused by the UV index to the human bodies thanks to the intense sunrays. At nights or even in the wee hours if you have 32-degree temperature, the humidity of about 80% would surely make it feel like 40 or more. And this tells the exact story of Kolkata in the last fortnight, and nobody knows for how long yet: intense sunlight and the occasional clouds coming together in the evenings to make the nights horribly hot and gloomy.

 

But we cannot explain it off with only the cyclone occurrence, because from late May to June the atmosphere gets laden with moisture due to the advancing South West Monsoon. It boils down to the mercilessly rising temperatures which become near-fatal if combined with the rising humidity. This does not augur well for humanity at all. And even with temperatures alone, more than 50-degree C can cause havoc to the human body, leading to sunstrokes and deaths. This summer many humans have perished in India including poll officials on duty for the General Elections and many are falling sick and perishing still, which our politically supercharged media hardly takes any note of. And our leaders or the world leaders? Well, less said the better! They’re more interested in power and war games! How the hell are we going to combat Global Warming and to protect our planet and humanity from its relentlessly spreading tentacles? Time is running out! Anybody listening at all?

Har Ghar Tiranga: Special Campaign to Celebrate 75 Years of Independence This 15th August!

Under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (75 Years Celebrations of Independence), a Campaign “Har Ghar Tiranga” (Tricolor in Every home) on Independence Day 2022 has been launched by the Government of India to encourage the Citizens to hoist the National Flag of India in their homes to instill a feeling of patriotism in the hearts of people and reminisce the contribution of those who had tirelessly worked for nation building. It is envisaged that all citizens are to be encouraged to hoist the Tiranga in their homes during the period from the 13th - the 15th August 2022.

Department of Posts is honored to utilize its vast physical reach and manpower present in each and every corner of the country to inform the citizens about the importance of this momentous occasion through comprehensive outreach campaign. 

Under this campaign, National Flags have been made available for sale at Post office counters @Rs.25/- per flag all over India. Online orders can also be placed to get your Tricolor you can click Here!  Citizens are requested to approach the nearest Post Office for purchasing the Flags.

(Courtesy: Department of Posts, Maharashtra Circle.)

Heat Wave In India: The Hits And More Heats Of The Heat!

The Indian summer begins from around the end of March and temperatures start soaring reaching the peak in the month of May in the range of 40 to 47/48 degree Celsius in most parts of North, North-Western and Central regions. This year, 2022, however, the heat began from the second part of March and temperatures soared to much above normal by mid-April reaching the forties. Immediately thereafter, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had declared heat wave conditions and then orange alert in various parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. Normally, heat wave conditions are declared when temperatures cross the 40℃ mark and orange alert as the 45℃ is crossed. The capital city Delhi has been in heat wave conditions for the last fortnight and on Friday, the 29^th of April, the mercury has crossed 46.4℃ making this month the hottest ever April in the capital in 72 years. As per the IMD data this April could very well be the hottest ever April in history in India. The IMD has, of course, hinted at a respite predicting rains/thunder showers in the North-Western belt after 2^nd May.  But what is store after that in the usually hottest month of May? There is an ominous prediction from the IMD that the mercury could reach 50℃ in Rajasthan and probably in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra too. We must brace for the worst even as there have some other grim additional hits and heats of the heat.

 

The first major hit-of-the-heat is emanating from the extreme coal shortage in the country. States like Maharashtra and others have already had power outages as the thermal plants are running out of coal. The hit is further heightened by the Government of Maharashtra’s allegation that the central Government is deliberately cutting off supply of coal as this state is ruled by a non-BJP coalition. This allegation is not at all helped by the Union Coal Ministry’s assurance that the country has enough supply of coal to sail through the crisis, because many other states are also facing the heat of this hit. The Indian Railways have cancelled more than 700 trips involving 42 passenger trains to prioritize the smooth movement of the coal rakes. So, the question arises as to how this crisis is allowed to happen considering the obvious fact that demand for power was bound to soar after the two-year pandemic slump as all COVID-related restrictions were lifted from March onward, apart from the other more obvious fact that demand for power reaches its peak during the months of April and Many even otherwise every year.

 

According to an IndianExpress report, 108 of India’s 173 coal-fired thermal plants have critically low levels of coal supply and that around 75% of the country’s power requirements come from coal-fired thermal plants with the Railways being the main transporter of the black gold. The report says further that many thermal plants dependent on imported coal have stopped generation of power due to increasing international prices of coal. Referring to experts the report sends a warning that this crisis could get even worse in the monsoon season as during that period coal transportation is negatively impacted by weather conditions and the thermal plants have very little buffer of coal at the moment.

 

The poor on the streets, the workers who have to come out every day for survival, the lower middle classes boxed in the congested society or chawl or slum flats/hutments of the urban areas and the farmers on the fields will have to bear the worst hits. Not to speak of the surging electricity bills combined with the ever-increasing prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas. Their inhuman conditions are not at all helped by the unfortunate occurrences of even more heats of the third kind. In Maharashtra, the MNS leader Raj Thackeray is hitting only at the common people by creating a provocative environment involving the Hanuman Chalisa and the Azaan. In Karnataka, the heats are ever flowing: from the hijab dress-code to the halal-meat controversies; the Azaan loudspeakers; and then expanding the heat on to the Bible. Whatever must have happened in Punjab is also very unfortunate. The only pleasant surprise is coming from Uttar Pradesh with its Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, elected for his second term only recently, removing all the illegal loudspeakers and reducing the decibel-limits of the other ones from all places of worship, irrespective of religions.

 

When the citizens of the country are suffering from the relentless heat, obviously a result of the global warming, the governments should focus more on how to provide them with some much-needed relief rather than resorting to more and more load shedding and scoring political brownie points at the sole expense of the common struggling citizens. Even the IPL-2022 is being adversely affected by the heat with the batsmen running dehydrated and struggling to score totals of just about 150 or so. Only the advertisements or the commercials are very cool indeed, with everyone featuring in them dancing in wild celebration of what we know not.

The Essence Of Hanuman Chalisa And Azaan!

Hanuman Chalisa is a collection of forty verses (chalis in Hindi means the number 40) except for two Doha or couplets in the beginning and one Doha at the end, in praise of Lord Hanuman who apart from being the exemplary devotee or Bhakta of Lord Ram is also regarded as an incarnation of Shiva and so, is recognized as a God. The scripture of Hanuman Chalisa is authored by Tulsidas (1497/1532—1623), the famous Bhakti poet-saint of the 16^th century India, renowned for composing the Ramcharitmanas (Lake of the deeds of Rama), retelling of the epic Ramayana. Ramcharitmanas is a monumental poetic creation because of the fact that Tulsidas composed it in the Awadhi or Oudhi language that is taken as a dialect of Hindi and thus taking the epic to the huge arena of the common Indians; Sanskrit scriptures are understood mostly by the scholars of that language. Hanuman Chalisa is also composed in Awadhi.

 

As we mentioned Hanuman Chalisa is a collection of forty chaupais (four-line-stanza verses) or devotional hymns or stotra in praise of Lord Hanuman. The verses describe the half-monkey God Hanuman as a staunch Bhakta of Lord Ram, a man of strength, courage and wisdom and a man without desire. As most citizens of the world know that Hanuman is one of the central characters of Ramayana, he is always in the service of Rama and doing everything possible for him to eradicate evil without expecting rewards. He is also regarded in India as a deity of Sankat Mochan, that is recuing humans from all crises and obstacles. Reciting Hanuman Chalisa is believed to help humans to overcome all such obstacles, realize one’s wishes and progressing in the path to liberation from all adversities or afflictions, finally achieving Moksha.

 

The Hanuman Chalisa booklet, apart from being readable to all knowing the Devanagari script are available in various Indian languages plus the numerous music albums. One CD sung by the reputed Indian singer Hariharan has reportedly achieved more than 2 billion views. Millions of Indians recite the Chalisa daily, anytime or any number of times they desire, at homes and even while on the move. The easily recognizable booklet in Awadhi is there in our home too. My wife reads it whenever she feels the need, almost daily at least once. And she sits in seclusion to read it, and reads it silently so that it does not disturb me or others present, irrespective of we being believers or non-believers. At times she reads it silently, sitting in the car as I drive on peacefully.  

 

The basic mantra about hymns or stotra or mantra is that the recitation of these means a prayer and a prayer done in the mind is said to be the best as it helps the praying person concentrate and visualize his/her favorite deity. In fact, it amounts to meditation which is very much recommended in our stress-filled times and it opens the road to spiritualism. Of course, all people may not or are not spiritually inclined and they want the reverberations of the hymns influence and inspire them. No issues here too. They can very easily recite it aloud at homes or even while in public transport, and they can also listen to loud recorded recitations or singing in their music systems within their four walls or even inside any temple that holds such prayers. The fact of the matter is that reciting Hanuman Chalisa is absolutely a personal choice, open to all willing ones, and therefore, it doesn’t at all need public amplification.

 

The Islamic custom of the Adhan (in Arabic) or Azaan (in many other languages) is slightly different. The Azaan is in fact means an announcement to call the devotees to the prayers to be held in the minarets or in the mosques. Not deterred by the Sunni and Shia differences over the practice, the muezzin or the person who makes the announcement recites the Islamic call to prayers. The ritual of Adhan has been in practice since the times of Prophet Muhammad (570 AD—632 AD) who approximately at the age of forty got his first revelation from God and that led to him to finally found the Islamic religion based on one God or monotheism, combining all the teachings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets. Prophet Muhammad, believed to be the last prophet sent by God, transformed the whole of Arabia religiously, socially and even economically through his preaching. The verses of his revelations received from God led to the compilation and creation of Quran, the finest scripture in Arabic.

 

Prayers, thus, were central to the Prophet’s preaching and teachings in order to attract more and more followers. Azaan started as a response; it is not clear if he himself started this or appointed his main follower to start making the calls. Anyway, to catch the attention of the followers and inspire them to come to the prayers Prophet Muhammad needed public announcements. The loudspeakers came only in the first part of the 20^th century. Of course, other mechanical devices like the bells, the drums and the horns were available; but Muhammad preferred only to use his own strong voice or the voice of the muezzin for that purpose.

 

However, when the loudspeakers were invented in the 1930s the Muslim countries started using those and fitted the devices in the minarets and the mosques, mostly as a show of strength of their faith rather than devotion. It is believed that Azaan or prayers need to be done five times a day for devout Muslim, and thus in many countries including the Muslim-majority ones the loudspeakers slowly started becoming a nuisance in terms of noise pollution. Over the decades we’ve seen restrictions imposed on the use of loudspeakers and the imposition of decibel limits becoming a common practice in may countries including Saudi Arabia.

 

 In India the loudspeakers for Azaan began to be used only from the 1970s and as the country’s Constitution had declared India as a socialist secular democratic republic all religious practices, festivals and rituals have been allowed in all their ritualistic grandeur. But in the past decade we’ve seen selective protests fueled obviously by the growth of aggressive majority nationalism and fundamentalism of various forms. The present controversy raging, unfortunately, throughout the country is nothing but practices of religion-based politics and growing intolerance—one making the other more and more intolerant in a vicious circle.

 

We had earlier argued that chanting Hanuman Chalisa silently or loudly is a personal choice with nothing to do with public announcements. We can express similar feelings about Azaan too. In modern digital times, it’s just not possible for the educated and working Muslims to offer prayers five times a day, that too at a public place of worship. In whole of my service career, I’ve seen my Muslim colleagues and friends offering Namaz only on the Friday afternoons, at the mosque nearby or in office itself, silently. I’ve also seen numerous passengers in train journeys doing Namaz quietly, putting a piece of cloth on the floor in-between the berths, without disturbing anyone. Therefore, I’d say Azaan or Namaz or any kind of Islamic prayers are getting increasingly influenced by personal choices. To call it anti-Islamic would be another form of fundamentalist intolerance.

 

You are right when you object to the noise of the loudspeakers, particularly keeping in mind the differently abled and the patients in general. But you cannot be selective about your protests or you cannot try to right a wrong with another wrong. If you ask, righteously so, for a ban on the loudspeakers in public places to prevent noise pollution which is indeed a growing menace it has to be a blanket ban, covering all kinds of religious-cultural events/festivals/rituals taking place twelve month a year in our country. And, you hardly hear religious chanting of hymns or stotra on the mikes, you only hear film songs and even disco songs so that the devoteescan dance too.

 

This kind of hypocrisy and the growing politicization cum commercialization of religions must stop. High time to adopt a new modern religion of making the religion a matter of personal choice; preferably in the innermost corners of your excellent and powerful mind or within the four-walls of your homes or within the four-walls of any place of worship. The Pandemic nearly accomplished this; but unfortunately, humankind hates to learn from even disasters.

Russia Ousted From UNHRC Even As India Abstain Again!

In a very significant development on Thursday, April 7, 2022, the 193-member United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has suspended the membership of Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), a UN body formed in 2006 to replace the erstwhile United Nations Human Rights Commission, with 47 elected members and a mission to promote and protect human rights around the world. In an urgently called session of the UNGA 93 nations voted for the suspension of Russia, 24 including China voted against the move and 58 nations including India abstained whose votes did not count in the final tally, and therefore, the UNGA got its two-thirds majority to pass the move. Although the move is not legally binding Russia would be effectively prevented from raising its voice in the UNHRC.  Thus, Russia becomes the first permanent member-nation of the UN Security Council to be ousted from a UN body. The other Security Council members are the US, the UK, France and China.

 

The UNGA move follows in the wake of reports of civilian killings in the Russia-Ukraine war that has been raging for the last 44 days, particularly the recent Bucha massacre near Kyiv. The UNGA resolution expressed grave concern at the violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law by the Russian Federation in Ukraine. While Ukrainian government has welcomed the move the Kremlin authorities have expressed regrets over the decision while denying that Russian soldiers were responsible for the civilian casualties.

 

According to a news agency Russia had called upon some countries prior to the session to vote ‘no’ to the motion instead of just abstaining which might seriously affect its bilateral relations with the abstaining countries. If such reports are true this would impact India both ways: affecting its bilateral relations with Russia adversely and antagonizing the US one more time as India has been abstaining in all the previous sessions of the UNGA on Ukraine invasion.

 

While abstaining from voting against Russia the Indian representative has reiterated India’s resolve for peace and immediate cessation of the conflict. Earlier in regard to the Bucha massacre India had asked for an independent probe into the human rights violations.

 

The UNGA move was expected in light of the fact that the US and its Western allies had had to watch helplessly, apart from imposing more and more sanctions, as the war raged on; their military presence in Ukraine and the involvement of the NATO were avoided to prevent the outbreak of a world war, possibly nuclear; and that recently the US President Joe Biden had downgraded Russia President Putin from a ‘war criminal’ to a ‘butcher’.

 

We feel intensive international diplomacy would be more effective than imposing more and more punitive actions in bringing the war to an end as soon as possible. It’s just unimaginable that destructions and massacre are taking place in a modern world with the digitally connected global citizens made to witness the atrocities in an apparent paralysis.

How The Hollywood Swear-Realism Has Penetrated Bollywood And The OTT Platforms!

Use of abusive words or slang has been universal in daily conversations of human beings across the globe, since times immemorial perhaps. However, in this piece we’re only interested as to how such cuss words have progressed to more hardened and stronger forms on the celluloid and how they have conquered other very conservative celluloid forms. This is not at all a research paper either; but, interestingly, there is lot of research on the progressively hardening swear words in Hollywood movies—researchers even listing out movies with the maximum number of swear-words used in the dialogues by the characters, one finding a maximum of a near thousand such expressions in a movie of around 90 minutes’ duration. In early times societies in the west too were more conservative, and therefore the swear-words were of the relatively innocent types like ‘heck’, ‘what the hell’, ‘damn’ ‘shit’ and so on. The shift toward the hardened cuss words involving the ‘f***’ or ‘f******’ or ‘as****e’ varieties can be traced to the early seventies in Hollywood movies. Over time it steadily progressed to the early nineties and then the progress has been exponential with almost every movie using those words liberally. It is said or even believed that developing countries like India lag behind any ‘progress’ in America or the west by about two decades. So, we first examine the scenario in India.

 

When we were in schools times were not modern like today’s, but definitely families were more cultured rather than conservative, and for decent families the uttering of swear words was a taboo. Whatever cuss words were in circulation those were limited to a handful of back-benchers and the usage was purely of local slang. Most of us were awestruck on hearing such words. Nevertheless, at times we used to learn some very uncommon local slang, and in the spirit of a new discovery on learning about a never-heard-of word without understanding its meaning I once uttered that in a sing-song way before my mother. My mother angrily ordered me to shut up immediately, and I inculcated the ‘decency’, again.

 

In college days some outside influences from other parts of the country—mostly from the northern side—gave new and stronger abusive slang involving the mother or the sister invariably. In the course of higher studies the words learnt increased substantially—slowly graduating to the ‘f’ or ‘a’ types in the eighties which is corroborated by the fact stated above in regard to Hollywood films starting the initiative in the seventies. Of course, this does not mean that the swear-word phenomenon is an increasing function of higher learning. However, we can say confidently that this has a lot to do with the modernity, urbanization and the frequent international film festivals which in turn mean more ‘exposure’ to Hollywood and other ‘liberally realistic’ films from other countries.

 

From the Golden Era of Bollywood or Hindi cinema of the fifties-sixties up to the technically sound movies of the present day the mainstream movies thus far are mostly free of the hardened or modern swear words—limited only to the relatively innocent local abuses—thanks to their aim of ‘family entertainment’ for more robust commerce. Only a handful of movies that claimed to be different in terms of subjects or storyline or ‘stark-realism’ used those hardened words, albeit selectively enough, to not offend the censor board members too much. Most filmmakers noticed the use of the hardened swear words in daily conversations of particularly the modern ‘progressive’ youth population, but still did not go ahead with a liberal dosage in fear of the censor board where the members still leaned toward decency or conservatism—of course, becoming steadily more tolerant. The mainstream television serials in India of course have been totally free of the specific swear words, again thanks to the ‘family’ perception. Mind you, we’re not talking about sexual content or vulgarity in any national/regional movies or serials.

 

Hollywood movies with the growing exposure of the youth in a modern digital India have succeeded in penetrating the Over The Top (OTT) producing and streaming serials/movies in a  brutal way, because there were no censors or regulatory authorities for these productions till recently when the Government of India woke up to this ‘threat’ to decency. Nowadays, go to any serial or movie on an OTT platform and you’ll immediately find a ‘content advisory’ that starts with the aspect of ‘foul language’ among others. The R or X rated films which were restricted earlier to youth below 18 years of age are available with the 13+ ratings. This means that the words of the ‘f’ or ‘a’ varieties are set to engulf the country soon or have already done so. Nearly every male or female character in the OTT productions mouths an ‘f’ or ‘a’ word almost in every dialogue with or without any necessity for doing so. Thanks to Hollywood, this is a fashionably ‘liberal’ trend that rages at the moment.

 

But still. Why at all? Is this realism of the third kind in humanity? Researchers say that Americans or Westerns use just about 1% swear word of the hardened varieties in daily existence while their movies use it beyond 25% in a single movie. This rule can be fully applied to the Indian people too in regard to the OTT streaming. We suppose the phenomena of a spouse addressing his/her life-partner as a ‘f****** as****e’ is still considered very offensive in any household across the globe. But unfortunately, we find such expressions in abundance in the ‘family’ scenes involving parents and even children of Hollywood movies or the Indian OTT.

 

I’d leave it to you if we need to just laugh at this unique ‘realism’ or be concerned about this, rampant in the large, small and micro screens across households—households the members of which in reality do get separated from each other by those very screens.

The Year-Long Farmers’ Movement In India Ends!

In a huge relief for the whole of India, the Government and the farming community the year-long Farmers’ Movement has come to an end today after the Joint Farmers Front leaders announced in Delhi that the Government had accepted all their demands that prominently included the promulgation of a law guarantying Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for their crops and the withdrawal of all charges against the agitating farmers. The leaders described this as a historic victory against an arrogant government further saying that their peaceful movement was unprecedented in India as well as in the world. The farmers would start leaving the Delhi borders from the 11^th of this month, after the state funeral tomorrow of the CDS Gen. Bipin Rawat who died in a tragic chopper crash yesterday, with a victory march to their respective home states, they added. The leaders also said that the Joint Farmers Front which was formed with the constituents of all farm unions across the country to steer the movement would be kept active to monitor the steps taken by the government in the coming weeks and there will a review meeting on 15^th January 2022 for this purpose.

 

Most of the farmers of the country, the food-givers, fought for the repeal of the three Farm Laws and a guaranteed MSP, and after more than 11 rounds of talks with the Government of India the Prime Minister had to bow down to their demands announcing the repeal of the laws on November 19, 2021, with the ongoing winter session of the Parliament having already effected the same without any debate as the opposition political parties have been fighting too on behalf of the farmers for the same objective. The farmers spent days and nights on the grounds bordering the capital of Delhi for more than a year defying the challenges of all the four seasons and the pandemic. In the process they lost around 750 farmers languishing and perishing in the camps. There have been various protest demonstrations, road-rail blockades, protest and tractor marches throughout the year. The final historic victory proves that the food-givers of any country cannot be ignored for long and cannot be left unhappy and agitating—be it for the ‘roti’ or for the elections or for whatever.

 

We extend our hearty welcome for their decision and stand with them, as always, for the future. Now, the ball is in the Government’s court and it’d be interesting to watch what follows next. The Government knows fully well that they cannot go back on their promises and can never afford one more movement by the community upon whom the economy of the country depends to a large extent. The Government must take all the steps now to reduce and then eliminate fully the trust deficit that has been building up in the hearts of the farmers against the government thanks to various dubious actions taken by the latter during the period to derail the movement. It is good time now to go for the much-needed agricultural reforms in a positive and proactive frame of mind taking all stakeholders on board.

CDS General Bipin Rawat Dies In Chopper Crash: An Unthinkable National Tragedy, Our Salute!

This is unthinkable, even unpardonable. That the helicopter carrying the topmost military officer of India—the first ever Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) next only to the Supreme Commander of the India Army, the President of India—should crash in spite of the highest security being attached to the trip and the fool-proof technical checks being obviously carried out by the best of pilots before the trip. But it has happened still—a monumental national tragedy. CDS General Bipin Rawat, one of the bravest and the most decorated military officers of the country, had left his Delhi residence around 9 this morning and boarded a special Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft for Sulur Air Base near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu along with his wife and seven others including senior military officers and security commandos. Arriving at Sulur around 11.30 AM he boarded a Mi-17V5 helicopter, supposedly the most advanced one being manufactured and delivered to India between 2013-16 by the Republic of Russia, with five more members including the crew joining the flight, making the total passengers in the chopper 14. The chopper took off around 11.45 AM for the Wellington Defence Services Staff College, Tamil Nadu.  

 

Just five minutes away from the destination the chopper crashed in Coonoor amid the forests of the mountainous district of Nilgiris around 12.20 PM. As the area was almost inaccessible the first ones to come to know of the crash were the local tribals who alerted the police. A lot of time thus was wasted before the actual rescue operations began. As per the tribal eye-witnesses shown by some news channels the helicopter reportedly hit a tree amid heavy fog and burst into flames before hitting the ground. The Tamil Nadu government had confirmed 5 fatalities, 2 badly burnt passengers taken to military hospitals and rescue operations going on for the rest. The ANI (Asian News International) had confirmed 13 fatalities out of the 14 quoting sources, the victims being identified through the DNA testing. No information about the condition of General Bipin Rawat and his wife was available till the last reports came in.

 

In sad reality, it is hoping against hope for the safety of the top General. Matters about high officials always involve a protocol and nothing is confirmed or announced in a hurry. The Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh, is the proper authority to make the final announcement after confirming fully with the Chief of the IAF. First, the Defence Minister briefed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi; then he consulted the IAF Chief who immediately rushed to the site of the tragic crash; and then the PM in consultation with the Defence Minister had called for a Cabinet meeting and a highest-level security session later in the evening. The Defence Minister then visited the residence of General Rawat in Delhi which was significant. The President of India, Ramnath Kovind, had also canceled his Mumbai event and rushed back to the capital. Dignitaries including the Army Chief and others have also been visiting the General’s residence. All these are pointers to an unthinkable tragedy.

 

The IAF has already ordered an inquiry into the crash. Many experts believe weather conditions have something to do with it. Tamil Nadu had witnessed unprecedented rains in the recent days and today it was reportedly very bad weather and heavy mist in the Coonoor hills. However, the emergency controls in the arguably most advanced chopper ever should have been able to maneuver and land safely, and the failure to do so with none other than the Chief of the military on board confounds one and all. The Defence Minister was to address the Parliament which is in session this evening, but it was then deferred to sometime tomorrow, possibly considering all aspects of a very sensitive incident involving national security and bilateral cum multilateral relations.

 

Unfortunately, over the last few decades we have been getting used to witness numerous chopper accidents involving various kinds of helicopters including the MIG and the Mi-Series types, most prominently; not only in India, but across various other countries too. Many dignitaries of the country including senior military officers, pilots, Chief Ministers, political leaders and others have either perished in those crashes or just survived. This leads us to question the very use of helicopters in modern times when other modes of air travel are easily available. Why not do away with helicopters for good?

 

The sad news has come. The IAF has confirmed just now that the brave General and Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat (1958-2021), his wife and 11 other officials have died in the crash. Our tributes and homage to all the martyrs, our condolences to the General's and other officers' families. The whole of India has been praying for the General’s safety. But God always has other plans. An irreparable loss for India. 

Why Life Certificates For Pensioners At All?

I remember taking my father, most probably in 1989, to his pension issuing bank branch thinking that he must have had some banking business to do. Arriving at the branch we entered the chamber of the bank manager whom my father knew well. After the customary ‘hi, Hellos’ there followed a casual chat, and then we left. I was curious as I saw none of the usual withdrawals or deposits or anything of the banking sort done there. So, I asked my father what was the purpose of the visit to which my father, with an ironic smile, said that he had to ‘show his face’ to the bank proving that he was still alive and kicking. Yes, every retiring or superannuating person from central or state governments or any other government organizations in India (I’m not aware of procedures followed in other countries) have to ‘show his/her fact’ to the issuing bank in the month of November every year mandatorily so that his/her pension is not interrupted. This is called Life Certificate to guarantee the continuation of the pension. I did not like it from that time—why to force people, some of them being very old and with illnesses, to compulsorily visit the bank just to prove s/he is alive. Why at all?

 

Over the decades there have been various certificate forms to be signed by the pensioner physically present at the banks apart from showing the face to familiar bank managers to generate the life certificates. With the launch of Jeevan Pramaan in November 2014 (a site and also a mobile app for pensioners to generate life certificates digitally) and the launch of Digital India to improve internet connectivity in the rural areas the Life Certificate exercise became digital and Aadhaar card linked. The Jeevan Pramaan (evidence of being alive) site is friendly guiding the registered users to get to know about generating life certificates from their homes. However, it is not that easy as it sounds.

 

When it was my turn to superannuate, in the month of November itself in 2019, I had to know all about this procedure notwithstanding my inherent dislike. I asked several of my retired colleagues about how to do it. They all said that it could be done online now. Therefore, in November 2020, with COVID-19 restrictions very much in force, I tried to do it online. I registered in Jeevan Pramaan with the normal OTP business and became a user. But, I found that to generate the life certificate I must buy a biometric device from outside, register that with the authority and to attach it to my computer or smartphone in order to authenticate the application with fingerprint o iris scan. Finding it a cumbersome process I gave it up.

 

I had then finally to go to my pension-issuing bank branch and was horrified to find queues of eagerly waiting old and frail pensioners without any social distancing and the process was extremely slow. I had no other alternative but to join the queue hoping for the best, even though I knew one always-helpful lady executive there very well; because I did not want to jump the queue considering the fact that most of the people there were much older than me. As luck would have it, the lady noticed me waiting and fidgeting impatiently due to violations of norms by the very people whom the governments always asked to stay at home safely, and called me over to her counter. I produced my Aadhaar card, my pension book containing the Pension Pay Order no. and gave these to her. It was done under five minutes taking my fingerprint on the attached device. Relieved, but with sense of guilt seeing the older people still waiting, I walked away with a copy of the life certificate she gave me.

 

Now, to the question of why at all these certificates are needed. Well, it can be said that without this ‘proof’ the death of any pensioner may not be reported to the bank in which case the next of kin would go on drawing the full pension, perhaps indefinitely; but that is not possible for two reasons: first, most bank branches have a locality-based clientele and the word-by-mouth always reaches them; second, most of the families losing the primary pensioner would consider completing the process of the ‘family pension’ issue more important. However, this problem of possible fraudulent practice cannot be resolved by the life certificates. Because, the certificate is generated on a particular date of November when the holder is declared to be alive, now if, unfortunately, the pensioner dies the next day or days later the bank would face exactly the same problem of getting the information.

 

Majority of the Indian population cannot afford a smartphone or laptops or desktops, forget about the biometric devices, and despite Digital India the rural areas still suffer from the connectivity hassles as have been proved in the lockdowns with most of the rural students getting deprived of online classes. Besides, many among those who can afford the devices financially do not possess the technical knowhow. The net result of all this is that during the month of November every year the bank branches or the Jeevan Pramaan centers are always crowded with old people which is unpardonable not only in pandemic times, but also otherwise, forcing them to come out of homes—some tottering with sticks, some frail and weak and some with illnesses.

 

So why should the life certificates be compulsory or for that matter necessary at all? Why should it not be scrapped like the Modi Government has done with so many archaic laws or practices? The banking business has been extensively personalized in recent years with millions of phone calls made every day to customers on various schemes or benefits. So, why don’t they just make it routine to redirect some of these calls to their pension-drawing customers, maybe twice or thrice in a year as the most effective way of finding out if they are still alive or not? The inherent problems of generating life certificates have also helped the emergence of ‘agents’ who are ready to come to your home to do it on the spot for you, of course, for a handsome amount ejected out of you. This is one more of the undesirable results of the unnecessary practice of life certificates. I’m not suggesting that people should not acquire new and newer knowledge about easier digital ways; I’m only saying this particular practice does not serve any purpose.

The Age Of The Narratives!

 

In the olden days we used to boast of our democracy as something ‘of the people, for the people and by the people’ where the things like freedom of expression, freedom of faith and beliefs, a secular environment with religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence and above all the prized safeguard of public opinion were all held in the highest of esteem and affection. We were very fond of forming our own opinions and of discussing those with others, not necessarily our supporters or sympathizers, but especially with those having different opinions, and in the process having healthy enlightening debates—anywhere, be it at the college/university campuses or at the favorite restaurants or in the office chambers or on the street corners or at the home addas. And we believed religiously in the strength of public opinion that used to change the destiny of democratic nations, so often.

 

Opinions used to be just comments or arguments that were amenable to change and further development, and were never obsessions. Contrasting religious beliefs, adherence to ideologies, the paths leading to the Left, Right or the Centre and the options to join various political parties were all there too, but these factors had not noticeably  hindered the democratic process of the debates, the fights, the development of the intellect, the quest for knowledge and wisdom, the politics and even the elections.

 

Well, good things are never meant to last long. Slowly and steadily, self-expression started becoming biased and motivated, ideologies becoming convictions, religious beliefs becoming fundamentalist obsessions, secularism becoming an object of constant ridicule and mockery and elections, the highest expression of democracy, becoming abject studies of human greed, shameless propaganda, no-holds-barred personal attacks/abuses and targeted violence. No doubt, the vote-bank politics of divisions were there in the olden days too, but that was done with some play of the conscience in the interests of peoples’ rights and constitutional provisions, and not in the way of the brazen divide and rule or the direct polarization tactics that slowly took over all forms of democratic elections and unfortunately, almost all forms of debates too. And, public opinion lost its place and relevance, entirely.

 

So, we ask ourselves now: what use of forming or having our own opinions amid the blitz of the ‘narratives’ that has been emerging over the last few years? The people or the voters are not to be blamed, they only wanted change from the quagmire of corruption and therefore voted overwhelmingly for the strong alternative; they had no idea nor any premonition of danger, that the democratic power would eventually become the prime or the bulldozer narrative to take them all in. Enshrined in their ideology and the accompanying religious orthodoxy and emboldened by the ever-enlarging obsessed majority with it the power went from strength to strength, inching surely and ominously toward the final realization of their cherished dream.

  

What exactly do we do with our opinions in the present scenario? Yes, we can still form and have those; but there is no relevance anymore and the modes of expression are severely restricted. If we form our opinion to fall in line the power would welcome us with open hands and reward a few of us; if we form our opinion that does not directly disturb them they would ignore us; if we form our opinion in direct confrontation of their belief-system they will scoff at us or would try to intimidate us into final submission; and if we form our opinion as a group opposing them on a platform they would immediately try to break it up by dividing us and then labelling us as anti-nationals or traitors or terrorists who’d better be shot down to which the obsessed majority would cheer with blood-thirsty vengeance.

 

Okay, you’re a diehard believer in democratic spirit and norms, and would have your opinion, refusing to fall in line. What happens then? Someone from the opposite gang would confront you with such absurd and hurting opinions that you’d lose your cool, shriek out in frustration mouthing expletives bordering on violence. And, based on your outburst and the consequent ‘intolerance’ they’d label you as a conspirator against the national interest. Also, be sure to be treated with some delicious democracy dishes: you’d be witnessing again and again, the bulldozer narrative taking another modulated form in another election where it’d boldly take a stand to save democracy. The power has been extremely lucky to have some exquisite brains that specialize in doing all the excruciating deeds brazenly and then expertly putting the blame on others.

 

Opinions thus are no longer in vogue. It’s all narratives. Only the bulldozer narratives prevail, all others get subdued ruthlessly; the final results would indicate that all with true opinions are the abused losers. In the olden days we did not know about narratives, we only were fond of narration, like that of a story. The stories are still there, but the narration or the narratives have changed, for good. Any protesting voice ultimately becomes a part of a certain narrative that immediately gets condemned as damaging for the nation.

 

And what about organized narratives or the narratives of the opposition political parties? The less said the better, because the obsessed majority is never going to see your point beyond their overwhelming narrative, and even though they are accused of having damaging narratives the opposition political parties actually seem to have lost all the narratives of honest intent. No hope at all then? Well, hope is something that can never be suppressed by any narrative of any form. That is why, all are entitled to go on hoping. We are also entitled to hope that somehow democracy is going to survive and prevail, once again, like in the olden days. The public opinion has always been a game-changing phenomenon and it can, through constant friction and conflict, still revive from its near extinction, to finally beat the masters in their own game.

However, the above is also a personal opinion, and is subject to all of the factors mentioned. The positive part of it is the fact that I'm still capable of expressing it, of course in my limited ways.